Podcasts about hilarity

Reviews of The Long Walk, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, The Baltimorons, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Demon Slayer, The Office spin-off The Paper and more. Plus an interview with The Baltimorons writer and actor Michael Strassner. Hilarity ensues!

On Today's show Michelle & Gregg with Travis react to the assination of Charlie Kirk. Michelle's live devolved into an EBAY bidding war. Travis plays 3 in 5 for .38 Special tickets with Becky The Lunch Lady.  Hilarity ensues.  If you enjoy the show please consider subscribing to our youtube channel, our podcast and newsletter.

The Conjuring's big box office, a celebration of Star Trek Day plus the Philly Karen. Chris Gore and Alan Ng are joined by The Angry Badger, Dante James from Verbal Riot, Derek Anderson, Robert Meyer Burnett and Steph from My Nerdy Home. Hilarity ensues?

In this week's episode, I take a look back at the movies and streaming shows I watched in Summer 2025. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Ghost in the Serpent, Book #1 in the Ghost Armor series, (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store: FALLSERPENT50 The coupon code is valid through September 15, 2025 (please note the shorter expiration date). So if you need a new audiobook this fall, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 267 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is September 5, 2025 and today I'm doing a review roundup of the movies and streaming shows I saw in Summer 2025. Before we do that, we will have Coupon of the Week and a progress update on my current writing and audiobook projects. First up, this week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Ghost in the Serpent, Book One in the Ghost Armor series (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store. That is FALLSERPENT50. This coupon code will be valid through September 15th, 2025 (exactly one week). So if you need a new audiobook to listen to as we head into fall, we have got you covered. Now for an update on my current writing and audiobook projects. I am pleased to report that the rough draft of Blade of Flames, which will be the first book in my new Blades of Ruin epic fantasy series is finished. The rough draft came at about 90,000 words long, which was what I was aiming for. Next up, I will be writing a short story set as sort of a bonus in that plot line called Thunder Hammer and that will be the backstory of one of the characters in Blade of Flames. And when Blade of Flames comes out (which will hopefully be later this September), newsletter subscribers will get a free ebook copy of Thunder Hammer. So this is an excellent time to subscribe to my newsletter. I am also 8,000 words into Cloak of Worlds. At long last, I am coming back to the Cloak Mage series after nearly a year's absence. Longtime listeners will know the reason was that I had five unfinished series and I wanted to spend the summer of 2025 finishing the unfinished ones and focusing up so I will only have three ongoing series at any given time. I'm hoping Blade of Flames will come out before the end of September and Cloak of Worlds before the end of October, and after that I will be able to return to the Rivah series at long last. In audiobook news, recording is finished on Shield of Power. That will be excellently narrated by Brad Wills and hopefully once it gets through processing and quality assurance and everything, it should be showing up on the various audiobook stores before too much longer. Hollis McCarthy is about halfway through the recording of Ghost in the Siege, which was, as you know, the last book in the Ghost Armor series that just came out. And if all goes well, the audiobook should be coming out probably in October once everything is done with recording and quality assurance and all that. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects. 00:02:34 Main Topic: Summer 2025 Movie/TV Roundup So without further ado, let's head into our main topic. The end of summer is nigh, which means this time for my summer movie review roundup. As is usual for the summer, I saw a lot of movies, so this will be one of the longer episodes. For some reason I ended up watching a bunch of westerns. As always, the movies are ranked from least favorite to most favorite. The grades of course are totally subjective and based on nothing more than my own opinions, impressions, and interpretations. Now on to the movies. First up is the Austin Powers trilogy, the three movies of which came out in 1997, 1999, and 2002. The Austin Powers movies came out just as the Internet really got going in terms of mass adoption, which is likewise why so many Austin Powers and Dr. Evil memes are embedded in online culture. Despite that, I had never really seen any of them all the way through. They've been on in the background on TBS or whatever quite a bit when I visited people, but I've never seen them all. But I happened upon a DVD of the trilogy for $0.25 (USD), so I decided for 25 cents I would give it a go. I would say the movies were funny, albeit not particularly good. Obviously the Austin Powers movies are a parody of the James Bond movies. The movies kind of watch like an extended series of Saturday Night Live skits, only loosely connected, like the skit is what if Dr. Evil had a son named Scott who wasn't impressed with him or another skit was what if a British agent from the ‘60s arrives in the ‘90s and experiences culture clash? What if Dr. Evil didn't understand the concept of inflation and demanded only a million dollars from the United Nations? What if Dr. Evil was actually Austin's brother and they went to school together at Spy Academy? Michael Caine was pretty great as Austin's father. Overall, funny but fairly incoherent. Overall grade: C- Next up is Horrible Bosses, a very dark and very raunchy comedy from about 14 years ago. It came out in 2011. Interestingly, this movie reflects what I think is one of the major crises of the contemporary era, frequent failures of leadership at all levels of society. In the movie Nick, Dale, and Kurt are lifelong friends living in LA and all three of them have truly horrible bosses in their place of employment, ranging from a sociopathic finance director, the company founder's cokehead son, and a boorish dentist with a tendency to sexual harassment. At the bar, they fantasize about killing their horrible bosses and then mutually decide to do something about it. Obviously, they'd all be prime suspects in the murder of their own bosses, but if they killed each other's bosses, that would allow them to establish airtight alibis. However, since Nick, Dale and Kurt are not as bright as they think they are, it all goes hilariously wrong very quickly. Bob Hope has a hilarious cameo. If the best “crude comedies” I've seen are Anchorman, Zoolander, Tropic Thunder, and Dodgeball, and the worst one was MacGruber, I'd say Horrible Bosses lands about in the middle. Overall grade: C Next up is Cowboys and Aliens, which came out in 2011. Now I almost saw this in 2011 when it came out, but I was too busy to go to the theater in July of 2011, so I finally saw it here in 2025 and I would say this was almost a great movie, like the performances were great, the concept was great, the scenery was great, the special effects were great, and the story was packed full of really interesting ideas, but somehow they just didn't coalesce. I'm not entirely sure why. I think upon reflection, it was that the movie is just too overcrowded with too many characters and too many subplots. Anyway, Daniel Craig portrays a man who wakes up with no memory in the Old West, with a mysterious bracelet locked around his wrist. He makes his way to the town of Atonement, and promptly gets arrested because he is apparently a notorious outlaw (which he doesn't remember). While he is locked in jail, space aliens attack the town. The aliens, for unknown reasons, abduct many of the townspeople, and Daniel Craig's character, who is named Jake even if he doesn't remember it, must lead the town's effort to recover their abducted citizens. Harrison's Ford has an excellent performance as this awful cattle baron who nonetheless has virtues of courage and fortitude that you can't help but admire. An excellent performance. That said, the movie was just too packed, and I thought it would work better as a novel. After I watched the movie, it turned out that it was indeed based off a graphic novel. Novels and graphic novels allow for a far more complex story than a movie, and I don't think this movie quite managed to handle the transition from a graphic novel to a film. Overall grade: C Next up is Heads of State, which came out in 2025. This was kind of a stupid movie. However, the fundamental question of any movie, shouted to the audience by Russell Crow in Gladiator is, “are you not entertained?!?” I was thoroughly entertained watching this, so entertained I actually watched it twice. Not everything has to be Shakespeare or a profound meditation on the unresolvable conflicts inherent within human nature. Anyway, John Cena plays Will Derringer, newly elected President of the United States. Idris Elba plays Sam Clark, who has now been the UK Prime Minister for the last six years. Derringer was an action star who parleyed his celebrity into elected office (in the same way Arnold Schwarzenegger did), while Clarke is an army veteran who worked his way up through the UK's political system. Needless to say, the cheerful Derringer and the grim Clarke take an immediate dislike to each other. However, they'll have to team up when Air Force One is shot down, stranding them in eastern Europe. They'll have to make their way home while evading their enemies to unravel the conspiracy that threatens world peace. So half action thriller, half buddy road trip comedy. The premise really doesn't work if you think about it too much for more than thirty seconds, but the movie was funny and I enjoyed it. Jack Quaid really stole his scenes as a crazy but hyper-competent CIA officer. Overall grade: C+ Next up, Captain America: Brave New World, which came out in 2025 and I think this movie ended up on the good side of middling. You can definitely tell it went through a lot of reshoots and retooling, and I suspect the various film industry strikes hit it like a freight train. But we ended up with a reasonably solid superhero thriller. Sam Wilson is now Captain America. He's not superhuman the way Steve Rogers was and doesn't have magic powers or anything, so he kind of fights like the Mandalorian – a very capable fighter who relies on excellent armor. Meanwhile, in the grand American political tradition of failing upward, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who spent years persecuting The Hulk and whose meddling caused the Avengers to disband right before Thanos attacked, has now been elected President. To Wilson's surprise, Ross reaches out and wants him to restart the Avengers. But Ross (as we know) did a lot of shady black ops stuff for years, and one of his projects is coming back to haunt him. Wilson finds himself in the middle of a shadowy conspiracy, and it's up to him to figure out what's going on before it's too late. I was amused that lifelong government apparatchik Ross wanted to restart the Avengers, because when the Avengers had their biggest victory in Avengers: Endgame, they were essentially unsanctioned vigilantes bankrolled by a rogue tech billionaire. Overall grade: B- Next up is Ironheart, which came out in 2025. I'd say Ironheart was about 40% very weird and 60% quite good. It's sort of like the modern version of Dr. Faustus. The show got some flak on the Internet from the crossfire between the usual culture war people, but the key to understanding it is to realize that Riri Williams AKA Ironheart is in fact an antihero who's tottering on the edge of becoming a full-blown supervillain. Like Tony Stark, she's a once-in-a-generation scientific talent, but while she doesn't have Stark's alcohol problems, she's emotionally unstable, immature, ruthless, indifferent to collateral damage and consequences, and suffering from severe PTSD after her best friend and stepfather were killed in a drive-by shooting. This volatile mix gets her thrown out of MIT after her experiments cause too much destruction, and she has to go home to Chicago. To get the funds to keep working on her Iron Man armor, she turns to crime, and falls in with a gang of high-end thieves led by a mysterious figure named Hood. It turns out that Hood has actual magic powers, which both disturbs and fascinates Riri. However, Hood got his magic in a pact with a mysterious dark force. When a job goes bad, Riri gains the enmity of Hood and has to go on the run. It also turns out Hood's dark master has become very interested in Riri, which might be a lot more dangerous for everyone in the long run. Overall, I'd say this is about in the same vein as Agatha All Along, an interesting show constructed around a very morally questionable protagonist. Overall grade: B Next up is A Minecraft movie, which came out in 2024. I have to admit, I've never actually played Minecraft, so I know very little about the game and its ecosystem, only what I've generally absorbed by glancing at the news. That said, I think the movie held together quite well, and wasn't deserving of the general disdain it got in the press. (No doubt the $950 million box office compensated for any hurt feelings.) One of the many downsides of rapid technological change in the last fifty years is that the Boomers and Gen X and the Millennials and Gen Z and Gen Alpha have had such radically different formative experiences in childhood that it's harder to relate to each other. Growing up in the 1980s was a wildly different experience than growing up in the 2010s, and growing up in the 2010s was an even more wildly different experience than growing up in the 1960s. Smartphones and social media were dominant in 2020, barely starting in 2010, and implausible science fiction in 2000 and earlier, and so it was like the different generations grew up on different planets, because in some sense they actually did. (A five-year-old relative of mine just started school, and the descriptions of his school compared to what I remember of school really do sound like different planets entirely.) The Minecraft game and A Minecraft Movie might be one of those generation-locked experiences. Anyway, this has gotten very deep digression for what was essentially a portal-based LitRPG movie. A group of people experiencing various life difficulties in a rural Idaho town get sucked into the Minecraft world through a magic portal. There they must combine forces and learn to work together to master the Minecraft world to save it from an evil sorceress. As always, the fundamental question of any movie is the one that Russell Crowe's character shouted to the audience in Gladiator back in 2000. “Are you not entertained?” I admit I was entertained when watching A Minecraft Movie since it was funny and I recognized a lot of the video game mechanics, even though I've never actually played Minecraft. Like, Castlevania II had a night/day cycle the way Minecraft does, and Castlevania II was forty years ago. But that was another digression! I did enjoy A Minecraft Movie. It was kind of crazy, but it committed to the craziness and maintained a consistent creative vision, and I was entertained. Though I did think it was impressive how Jack Black's agent managed to insist that he sing several different times. Overall grade: B Next up is Back to School, which came out in 1986 and this is one of the better ‘80s comedies I've seen. Rodney Dangerfield plays Thornton Melon, who never went to college and is the wealthy owner of a chain of plus-sized clothing stores. His son Jason is attending Great Lakes University, and after Thornton's unfaithful gold-digging wife leaves him (Thornton is mostly relieved by this development), he decides to go visit his son. He quickly discovers that Jason is flailing at college, and decides to enroll to help out his son. Wacky adventures ensue! I quite enjoyed this. The fictional “Great Lakes University” was largely shot at UW-Madison in Wisconsin, which I found amusing because I spent a lot of time at UW-Madison several decades ago as a temporary IT employee. I liked seeing the characters walk past a place where I'd eat lunch outside when the day was nice, that kind of thing. Also, I'm very familiar with how the sausage gets made in higher ed. There's a scene where the dean is asking why Thornton is qualified to enter college, and then it cuts to the dean cheerfully overseeing the groundbreaking of the new Thornton Melon Hall which Thornton just donated, and I laughed so hard I almost hurt myself, because that is exactly how higher ed works. The movie had some pointless nudity, but it was only a few seconds and no doubt gets cut in network broadcasts. Overall grade: B Next up is Whiskey Galore, which came out in 1949 and this is a comedy set in Scotland during World War II. The villagers living on an isolated island have no whiskey due to wartime rationing. However, when a government ship carrying 50,000 cases of whiskey runs aground near the island, wacky hijinks ensue. I have to admit the first half of the movie was very slow and deliberate, gradually setting up all the pieces for later. Then, once the shipwreck happens, things pick up and the movie gets much funnier. Definitely worth watching both as a good comedy movie and an artifact of its time. A modicum of historical knowledge is required – if you don't know what the Home Guard is, you might have to do some Googling to understand the context of some of the scenes. Regrettably, the version I watched did not have captioning, so I had to pay really close attention to understand what the characters were saying, because some of the accents were very strong. Overall grade: B Next up is Happy Gilmore 2, which came out in 2025. This was dumb and overstuffed with celebrity cameos but thoroughly hilarious and I say this even though it uses one of my least favorite story tropes, namely “hero of previous movie is now a middle age loser.” However, the movie leads into it for comedy. When Happy Gilmore accidentally kills his wife with a line drive, he spirals into alcoholism and despair. But his five children still love him, and when his talented daughter needs tuition for school, Happy attempts to shake off his despair and go back to golf to win the money. But Happy soon stumbles onto a sinister conspiracy led by an evil CEO to transform the game of golf into his own personal profit center. Happy must team up with his old nemesis Shooter McGavin to save golf itself from the evil CEO. Amusingly, as I've said before, the best Adam Sandler movies are almost medieval. In medieval fables, it was common for a clever peasant to outwit pompous lords, corrupt priests, and greedy merchants. The best Adam Sandler protagonist remains an everyman who outwits the modern equivalent of pompous lords and corrupt priests, in this case an evil CEO. Overall grade: B+ Next up is Superman, which came out in 2025 and I thought this was pretty good and very funny at times. I think it caught the essential nature of Superman. Like, Superman should be a Lawful Good character. If he was a Dungeons and Dragons character, he would be a paladin. People on the Internet tend to take the characterization of superheroes seriously to perhaps an unhealthy degree, but it seems the best characterization of Superman is as an earnest, slightly dorky Boy Scout who goes around doing good deeds. The contrast of that good-hearted earnestness with his godlike abilities that would allow him to easily conquer and rule the world is what makes for an interesting character. I also appreciated how the movie dispensed with the overused trope of the Origin Story and just got down to business. In this movie, Lex Luthor is obsessed with destroying Superman and is willing to use both super-advanced technology and engineered geopolitical conflict to do it. Superman, because he's essentially a decent person, doesn't comprehend just how depraved Luthor is, and how far Luthor is willing to go out of petty spite. (Ironically, a billionaire willing to destroy the world out of petty spite is alas, quite realistic). Guy Gardener (“Jerkish Green Lantern”) and the extremely competent and the extremely exasperated Mr. Terrific definitely stole all their scenes. The director of the movie, James Gunn, was quite famously fired from Disney in 2018 for offensive jokes he had made on Twitter back when he was an edgy young filmmaker with an alcohol problem. I suppose Mr. Gunn can rest content knowing that Superman made more money than any Marvel movie released this year. Overall grade: A-   Next up is Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which came out in 1988. This was a very strange movie, but nonetheless, one with an ambitious premise, strong performances, and a strong artistic vision. It's set in post WWII Los Angeles, and “toons” (basically cartoon characters) live and work alongside humans. Private eye Eddie Valiant hates toons since one of them killed his brother five years ago. However, he's hired by the head of a studio who's having trouble with one of his toon actors, Roger Rabbit. Roger's worried his wife Jessica is having an affair, and Valiant obtains pictures of Jessica playing patty cake (not a euphemism, they actually were playing patty cake) with another man. Roger has an emotional breakdown, and soon the other man winds up dead, and Roger insists he's innocent. Valiant and Roger find themselves sucked into a dangerous conspiracy overseen by a ruthless mastermind. This movie was such an interesting cultural artifact. It perfectly follows the structure of a ‘40s film noir movie, but with cartoons, and the dissonance between film noir and the cheerfulness of the toons was embraced and used as a frequently source of comedy. In fact, when the grim and dour Valiant uses the toons' comedy techniques as a tactical improvisation in a moment of mortal peril, it's both hilarious and awesome. Christopher Lloyd's performance as the villainous Judge Doom was amazing. (I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he's villainous, because his character is named Judge Doom and he's literally wearing a black hat.) Like, his performance perfectly captures something monstrous that is trying very hard to pretend to be human and not quite getting it right. And the amount of work it must have taken to make this movie staggers the mind. Nowadays, having live actors interact with cartoon characters is expensive, but not unduly so. It's a frequent technique. You see it all the time in commercials when a housewife is smiling at an animated roll of paper towels or something, and Marvel's essentially been doing it for years. But this was 1988! Computer animation was still a ways off. They had to shoot the movie on analog film, and then hand-draw all the animation and successfully match it to the live film. It wouldn't have worked without the performance of Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant, who plays everything perfectly straight in the same way Michael Caine did in A Muppet Christmas Carol. So kind of a strange movie, but definitely worth watching. And it has both Disney and Warner Brothers animated characters in the same movie, which is something we will never, ever see again. Overall grade: A Next up is K-Pop Demon Hunters, which came out in 2025. Like Who framed Roger Rabbit?, this is a very strange movie, but nonetheless with a clear and focused artistic vision. It is a cultural artifact that provides a fascinating look into a world of which I have no knowledge or interest, namely K-pop bands and their dueling fandoms. Anyway, the plot is that for millennia, female Korean musicians have used the magic of their voices to keep the demons locked away in a demon world. The current incarnation is a three-woman K-Pop group called Huntrix, and they are on the verge of sealing away the demons forever. Naturally, the Demon King doesn't like this, so one of his cleverer minions comes up with a plan. They'll start a Demon K-Pop Boy Band! Disguised as humans, the demon K-Pop group will win away Huntrix's fans, allowing them to breach the barrier and devour the world. However, one of the Huntrix musicians is half-demon, and she starts falling for the lead demon in the boy band, who is handsome and of course has a dark and troubled past. Essentially a musical K-drama follows. I have to admit I know practically nothing about K-Pop groups and their dueling fandoms, other than the fact that they exist. However, this was an interesting movie to watch. The animation was excellent, it did have a focused vision, and there were some funny bits. Overall grade: A Next up is Clarkson's Farm Season Four, which came out in 2025. A long time ago in the ‘90s, I watched the episode of Frasier where Frasier and Niles attempt to open a restaurant and it all goes horribly (yet hilariously) wrong. At the time, I had no money, but I promised myself that I would never invest in a restaurant. Nothing I have seen or learned in the subsequent thirty years has ever changed that decision. Season 4 of Clarkson's Farm is basically Jeremy Clarkson, like Frasier and Niles, attempting to open a restaurant, specifically a British pub. On paper it's a good idea, since Clarkson can provide the pub with food produced from his own farm and other local farmers. However, it's an enormous logistical nightmare, and Clarkson must deal with miles of red tape, contractors, and a ballooning budget, all while trying to keep his farm from going under. An excellent and entertaining documentary into the difficulties of both the farming life and food service. I still don't want to own a restaurant! Overall grade: A Next up is Tombstone, which came out in 1993. The Western genre of fiction is interesting because it's limited to such a very specific period of time and geographical region. Like the “Wild West” period that characterizes the Western genre really only lasted as a historical period from about 1865 to roughly 1890. The Western genre was at its most popular in movies from the 1940s and the 1960s, and I wonder if it declined because cultural and demographic changes made it unpopular to romanticize the Old West the way someone like Walt Disney did at Disneyland with “Frontierland.” Of course, the genre lives on in different forms in grittier Western movies, neo-Westerns like Yellowstone and Longmire, and a lot of the genre's conventions apply really well to science fiction. Everyone talks about Firefly being the first Space Western, but The Mandalorian was much more successful and was basically a Western in space (albeit with occasional visits from Space Wizards). Anyway! After that long-winded introduction, let's talk about Tombstone. When Val Kilmer died earlier this year, the news articles mentioned Tombstone as among his best work, so I decided to give it a watch. The plot centers around Wyatt Earp, played by Kurt Russell, who has decided to give up his career in law enforcement and move to Tombstone, Arizona, a silver mining boomtown, in hopes of making his fortune. However, Tombstone is mostly controlled by the Cowboys outlaw gang, and Earp is inevitably drawn into conflict with them. With the help of his brothers and Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer's character), Earp sets out to bring some law and order to Tombstone, whether the Cowboys like it or not. Holliday is in the process of dying from tuberculosis, which makes him a formidable fighter since he knows getting shot will be a less painful and protracted death than the one his illness will bring him. Kilmer plays him as a dissolute, scheming warrior-poet who nonetheless is a very loyal friend. Definitely a classic of the Western genre, and so worth watching. Overall grade: A Next up is Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, the eighth Mission Impossible movie. Of the eight movies, I think the sixth one was the best one, but this one comes in at a close second. It continues on from Dead Reckoning. Ethan Hunt now possesses the key that will unlock the source code of the Entity, the malicious AI (think ChatGPT, but even more obviously evil) that is actively maneuvering the world's nuclear powers into destroying each other so the Entity can rule the remnants of humanity. Unfortunately, the Entity's source code is sitting in a wrecked Russian nuclear sub at the bottom of the Bering Sea. Even more unfortunately, the Entity knows that Hunt has the key and is trying to stop him, even as the Entity's former minion and Hunt's bitter enemy Gabriel seeks to seize control of the Entity for himself. A sense of apocalyptic doom hangs over the movie, which works well to build tension. Once again, the world is doomed, unless Ethan Hunt and his allies can save the day. The tension works extremely well during the movie's underwater sequence, and the final airborne duel between Hunt and Gabriel. I don't know if they're going to make any more Mission Impossible movies after this (they are insanely expensive), but if this is the end, it is a satisfying conclusion for the character of Ethan Hunt and the Impossible Mission Force. Overall grade: A Next up is Deep Cover, which came out in 2025. This is described as a comedy thriller, and I didn't know what to expect when I watched it, but I really enjoyed it. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Kat, a struggling comedy improv teacher living in London. Her best students are Marlon (played by Orlando Bloom), a dedicated character actor who wants to portray gritty realism but keeps getting cast in tacky commercials, and Hugh (played by Nick Mohammed), an awkward IT worker with no social skills whatsoever. One day, the three of them are recruited by Detective Sergeant Billings (played by Sean Bean) of the Metropolitan Police. The Met wants to use improv comedians to do undercover work for minor busts with drug dealers. Since it plays 200 pounds a pop, the trio agrees. Of course, things rapidly spiral out of control, because Kat, Marlon, and Hugh are actually a lot better at improv than they think, and soon they find themselves negotiating with the chief criminals of the London underworld. What follows is a movie that is both very tense and very funny. Kat, Marlon, and Hugh are in way over their heads, and will have to do the best improv of their lives to escape a very grisly fate. Whether Sean Bean dies or not (as is tradition), you will just have to watch the movie and find out. Overall grade: A Next up is Puss in Boots: The Final Wish, which came out in 2022. I don't personally know much about the history of Disney as a corporation, and I don't much care, but I do have several relatives who are very interested in the history of the Disney corporation, and therefore I have picked up some by osmosis. Apparently Disney CEO Michael Eisner forcing out Jeffrey Katzenberg in the 1990s was a very serious mistake, because Katzenberg went on to co-found DreamWorks, which has been Disney's consistent rival for animation for the last thirty years. That's like “CIA Regime Change Blowback” levels of creating your own enemy. Anyway, historical ironies aside, Puss in Boots: The Final Wish was a funny and surprisingly thoughtful animated movie. Puss in Boots is a legendary outlaw and folk hero, but he has used up eight of his nine lives. An ominous bounty hunter who looks like a humanoid wolf begins pursuing him, and the Wolf is able to shrug off the best of Puss In Boots' attacks. Panicked, Puss hides in a retirement home for elderly cats, but then hears rumors of the magical Last Wish. Hoping to use it to get his lives back, Puss In Boots sets off on the quest. It was amusing how Little Jack Horner and Goldilocks and the Three Bears were rival criminal gangs seeking the Last Wish. Overall grade: A Next up is Chicken People, which came out in 2016. A good documentary film gives you a glimpse into an alien world that you would otherwise never visit. In this example, I have absolutely no interest in competitive chicken breeding and will only raise chickens in my backyard if society ever collapses to the level that it becomes necessary for survival. That said, this was a very interesting look into the work of competitive chicken breeding. Apparently, there is an official “American Standard of Perfection” for individual chicken breeds, and the winner of the yearly chicken competition gets the title “Super Grand Champion.” Not Grand Champion, Super Grand Champion! That looks impressive on a resume. It is interesting how chicken breeding is in some sense an elaborate Skinner Box – like you can deliberately set out to breed chickens with the desirable traits on the American Standard of Perfection, but until the chickens are hatched and grow up, you don't know how they're going to turn out, so you need to try again and again and again… Overall grade: A Next up is The Mask of Zoro, which came out in 1998. I saw this in the theatre when it came out 27 years ago, but that was 27 years ago, and I don't have much of a memory of it, save that I liked it. So when I had the chance to watch it again, I did! Anthony Hopkins plays Diego de la Vega, who has the secret identity of Zorro in the final days before Mexico breaks away from the Spanish Empire. With Mexico on the verge of getting its independence, Diego decides to hang up his sword and mask and focus on his beloved wife and daughter. Unfortunately, the military governor Don Montero realizes Diego is Zorro, so has him arrested, kills his wife, and steals his baby daughter to raise as his own. Twenty years later, a bandit named Alejandro loses his brother and best friends to a brutal cavalry commander. It turns out that Montero is returning to California from Spain, and plans to seize control of California as an independent republic (which, of course, will be ruled by him). In the chaos, Diego escapes from prison and encounters a drunken Alejandro, and stops him from a futile attack upon the cavalry commander. He then proposes a pact – Diego will train Alejandro as the next Zorro, and together they can take vengeance upon the men who wronged them. This was a good movie. It was good to see that my taste in movies 27 years ago wasn't terrible. It manages to cram an entire epic plot into only 2 hours and 20 minutes. In some ways it was like a throwback to a ‘40s movie but with modern (for the ‘90s) production values, and some very good swordfights. Overall grade: A Next up is Wick is Pain, which came out in 2025. I've seen all four John Wick movies and enjoyed them thoroughly, though I've never gotten around to any of the spinoffs. Wick is Pain is a documentary about how John Wick went from a doomed indie movie with a $6.5 million hole in its budget to one of the most popular action series of the last few decades. Apparently Keanu Reeves made an offhand joke about how “Wick is pain” and that became the mantra of the cast and crew, because making an action movie that intense really was a painful experience. Definitely worth watching if you enjoyed the John Wick movies or moviemaking in general. Overall grade: A The last movie I saw this summer was Game Night, which came out in 2016. It was a hilarious, if occasionally dark comedy action thriller. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play Max and Annie Davis, a married couple who are very competitive and enjoy playing games of all kinds. Jason has an unresolved conflict with his brother Brooks, and one night Brooks invites them over for game night, which Max resents. Halfway through the evening, Brooks is kidnapped, with Max and Annie assume is part of the game. However, Brooks really is involved in something shady. Hilarity ensues, and it's up to Max and Annie to rescue Brooks and stay alive in the process. This was really funny, though a bit dark in places. That said, Max and Annie have a loving and supportive marriage, so it was nice to see something like that portrayed on the screen. Though this also leads to some hilarity, like when Annie accidentally shoots Max in the arm. No spoilers, but the punchline to that particular sequence was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Overall grade: A So no A+ movie this time around, but I still saw a bunch of solid movies I enjoyed. One final note, I have to admit, I've really come to respect Adam Sandler as an entertainer, even if his movies and comedy are not always to my taste. He makes what he wants, makes a lot of money, ensures that his friends get paid, and then occasionally takes on a serious role in someone else's movie when he wants to flex some acting muscles. I am not surprised that nearly everyone who's in the original Happy Gilmore who was still alive wanted to come back for Happy Gilmore 2. So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show enjoyable and perhaps a guide to some good movies to watch. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.  

Reviews of The Conjuring: Last Rites, Splitsville, Twinless, The Threesome, Run and Preparation for the Next Life. Plus an interview with the Found Footage Festival founders Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett. Hilarity ensues!

Will the upcoming Disney+ series Marvel Zombies save the Marvel franchise? Plus James Gunn announces a Superman sequel and loads of movie news. Hilarity ensues.

Jaws is back in theaters and the box office has capsized. Plus loads of movie news on a special Labor Day edition of Versus hosted by Alan Ng along with special guest co-host The Angry Badger. Hilarity ensues.

Reviews of The Toxic Avegner, Eden, Jaws, The Roses, Caught Stealing and other films playing in theaters. Plus Chris Gore reports from DragonCon live in Atlanta. Hilarity ensues?

Join Jeffrey Bellomo as he discusses caring for the dementia caregiver with Carrie Aalberts, also known as Dementia Darling. If you're a caregiver, it's important to understand that your work matters, your health matters, and you are not alone.     ONLINE RESOURCES  Dementia Darling - https://www.dementiadarling.com/ Teepa Snow - https://teepasnow.com/ Dementia Careblazers - https://careblazers.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/c/DementiaCareblazers Be Light Care - https://www.belightcare.com/ Hilarity for Charity - www.wearehfc.org National Council of Dementia Minds - https://dementiaminds.org/ The Association of Frontotemporal Dementia - https://www.theaftd.org/ Alzheimer's Association - https://www.alz.org/ The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) - https://www.lbda.org/ Leeza's Care Connection - https://leezascareconnection.org/home AARP Caregiving Resource Center - https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/ Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health - https://cle.clinic/3Ju9DGv ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center - https://archrespite.org/ Lorenzo's House - https://lorenzoshouse.org/   BOOKS Books on Amazon that Carrie recommends - https://amzn.to/45ksA5K   PODCASTS willGather: Navigating the World with Your Aging Loved One Gather Darlings  Caregiver Chats with Dr. Lakeyln Caregiver's Compass Remember Me Podcast   WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW (00:00) Episode introduction  (02:24) How a childhood experience sparked a lifelong mission  (05:15) Fighting the tragedy narrative and the importance of seeking support  (09:57) Why Carrie's speaking engagements focus on understanding “behaviors”  (12:01) Appreciating the work and influence of Teepa Snow  (15:04) Including caregivers and those living with dementia in the conversation  (19:28) Encouraging family support for caregiver parents  (21:05) Dealing with personality changes tied to dementia or brain damage  (24:14) How to connect with Carrie for resources and speaking events     ABOUT BELLOMO & ASSOCIATES Jeffrey R. Bellomo, the founder of Bellomo & Associates, is a licensed and certified elder law attorney with a master's degree in taxation and a certificate in estate planning. He explains complex legal and financial topics in easy-to-understand language. Bellomo & Associates is committed to providing education so that what happened to the Bellomo family doesn't happen to your family. We conduct free workshops on estate planning, crisis planning, Medicaid planning, special needs planning, probate administration, and trust administration. Visit our website (https://bellomoassociates.com/) to learn more.  

James Gunn's DC Universe continues with season 2 of Peacemaker. Is it a hit or a miss? Plus an interview with Primitive War director Luke Sparke on his epic indie dinosaur film. Hilarity ensues!

Send us a textThree seasoned gamblers pull back the velvet rope on what really happens at casinos across America. From the glittering floors of Las Vegas to regional venues like Erie's Presque Isle and Mountaineer in West Virginia, our guests share unfiltered stories from their collective decades at the tables.Blackjack emerges as the unanimous favorite game, though as Bill admits, "they take all my money most of the time I show up there, and I have a blast doing it." The panel doesn't hold back when discussing slot machines, with John calling them "a poor person's game" while explaining why the programmed odds make them a losing proposition long-term – though Mike shares a surprising $150 win from his very first spin.The conversation reveals fascinating insights about casino culture beyond gambling. All three guests appreciate how venues have evolved into complete entertainment destinations featuring everything from comedy shows to MMA fights. John reminisces about seeing George Carlin perform in Vegas, while Bill highlights Turning Stone Casino in upstate New York as the perfect blend of gambling, golf, and fine dining.When the discussion turns to casino cuisine, the recommendations range from Erie's midnight buffet to the steakhouse at Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, which Bono declares serves "the best steak I've ever had." Throughout their stories, one truth becomes clear: the real value in casino visits often comes from the overall experience rather than whatever happens at the tables.Whether you're a seasoned gambler or simply curious about what happens behind those flashing lights, this episode offers an entertaining look at casino culture through the eyes of those who've lived it. Ready to hear the real odds on your favorite games and discover which casino might be worth your next visit?Subscribe for exclusive content: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1530455/support Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREESweet Hands SportsElevate your game with Sweet Hands Sports! Our sports gloves are designed for champions,Buddy's Beard CareBuddy's Beard Care provides premium men's grooming products at an affordable price.Tactical BrotherhoodThe Tactical Brotherhood is a movement to support America.ShankitgolfOur goal here at Shankitgolf is for everyone to have a great time on and off the golf courseDeemed FitBe a part of our movement to instill confidence motivation and a willingness to keep pushing forwardDubby EnergyFROM GAMERS TO GYM JUNKIES TO ENTREPRENEURS, OUR PRODUCT IS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BE BETTER.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showFollow us on all social mediaX: @mikebonocomedyInstagram: @mikebonocomedy@tiktok: @mikebono_comedianFacebook: @mikebonocomedy

Hollywood's summer tentpole films led to a bloodbath at the box office in August. Chris Gore and Alan Ng are joined by The Angry Badger, Verbal Riot, The DA Derek Anderson, Steph from My Nerdy Home and Robert Meyer Burnett. Hilarity ensues!

Reviews of Primitive War, Honey Don't!, Stalkers, Relay, the new Devo! documentary from Netflix and the sing-a-long version of KPop Demon Hunters. Plus an interview with What We Hide director Dan Kay. Hilarity ensues!

The party is polymorphed into desert animals. Hilarity ensues...   Gain access to an exclusive campaign, Shroud Over Saltmarsh, over on Patreon: https://legendsofavantris.com/patreon The Crooked Moon, a folk horror supplement for 5e, is available for preorder! Get the Crooked Moon at: https://thecrookedmoon.com/ Watch more D&D adventures in the world of Avantris live on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/legendsofavantris Check out our merch store: https://shop.legendsofavantris.com  Join our community on Discord: https://legendsofavantris.com/discord Watch our many campaigns on YouTube: https://legendsofavantris.com/youtube  All other links: https://linktr.ee/legendsofavantris     Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/1CZccnJNdqk?si=Y2iPkXSl91QhZCqQ

In this episode, we talk to Andy Griffiths. The children’s author has written 40 books, including The Day My Bum Went Psycho, and the wildly popular Treehouse series. Griffiths has been published in more than 35 countries, and sold an astonishing 13 million copies in Australia and New Zealand alone. He’s led an interesting life, too. He wanted to be a frontman in a punk band, but ended up as a schoolteacher. He’s serious about fitness – a former obsessive runner who now loves the gym, flexing wiry muscles that are covered in sticker tattoos. His latest book – You And Me And The Peanut Butter Beast – is out now. Hosting this conversation about the “fusion of hilarity and horror” that inspired Griffiths, and the “sacred moment” when he meets his young readers – is Good Weekend senior writer Konrad Marshall.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The NYT releases data showing Democrats losing voters while Republican are gaining in all 30 states surveyed. MSNBC's Morning Joe asks panelist, Molly Jong-Fast why this is so. Hilarity ensues.

Loads of Marvel news, trailer reactions and more with special guest co-host the Angry Badger. Plus an interview with We're Not Safe Here director Solomon Gray. Hilarity ensues!

Can Futon Therapy Cure Rowdy Behavior? We Test it Out on Hayley Hayley gets wrapped up in plastic wrap and carried out of the studio by producers to test whether the Japanese method of “futon therapy” could help calm rowdy people down. Hilarity ensues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does Alien: Earth live up to expectations for the first TV series based on the Alien franchise? Chris Gore and Alan Ng are joined by The Angry Badger, Verbal Riot, Nerd Cookies, Derek Anderson, My Nerdy Home and Robert Meyer Burnett. Hilarity ensues!

BE WARNED: It's LuAnna, and this podcast contains honest, upfront opinions, rants, bants and general explicit content. But you know you love it.On this week's LuAnna: The Podcast: Find out what sort of porn the girls are into, what our thoughts on the Bonnie Blue documentary are and get an architectural response to our questions about toilet doors. Plus...grassing up your pal, a sweaty golf prank, women staying single and childfree, and when Luisa's rant goes tits up. Hilarity ensues. Remember, if you want to get in touch you can: Email us at luanna@everythingluanna.com OR drop us a WhatsApp on 07745 266947Please review Global's Privacy Policy: https://global.com/legal/privacy-policy/

Reviews of Nobody 2, Red Sonja, Strange Harvest, Shin Godzilla, Americana, Grave of the Fireflies and more. Plus an interview with Tura! The Authorized Tura Satana Documentary director Cody Jarrett. Hilarity ensues.

We went hard in the paint on this one. We "essentially" play characters on our show, therefore, this should be viewed as a comedic performance and not real life.....kinda.

How has Hollywood reacted to the culture shift in America? Plus trailer reactions, loads of news and a review of the first two episodes of Alien: Earth. Hilarity ensues.

What is the fallout of Gina Carano's settlement of her Disney lawsuit? Plus, more talk of Weapons and Marvel's collapse at the box office. Chris Gore and Alan Ng are joined by The Angry Badger, Verbal Riot and Derek Anderson. Hilarity ensues?

Reviews of Weapons, Sketch, It's Never Over: Jeff Buckley, Freakier Friday, Death's Sonata, K-Pop Demon Hunters and more. Hilarity ensues.

2:30 - Nikki wonders if she's developing a contagious laugh from another host. Hilarity ensues as they imitate each other's laughs. 5:15 - A discussion about the origin and meaning of doodling leads to debate on whether it improves focus and retention. 8:00 - An idea for a new Bush Barbie porn film is proposed, with proceeds going to charity. This sparks debate on the morality of doing porn for a good cause. 10:30 - Bonnie Blue is mentioned but none of the hosts pick up on it. Missed comedy opportunity! 12:45 - The hosts joke about writing off OnlyFans subscriptions as a business expense. Accountants may disagree!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does the success of The Naked Gun signal the return of comedy at the movies? Chris Gore and Alan Ng are joined by The Angry Badger, Verbal Riot, Nerd Cookies, Steph from My Nerdy Home, Paul Chato and Robert Meyer Burnett. Hilarity ensues!

Reviews of The Naked Gun, Together, The Bad Guys 2, Smurfs, The Home, She Rides Shotgun, War of the Worlds (2025), Architecton, Self Driver and more. Plus an interview with River of Blood director ​​Howard J. Ford. Hilarity ensues!

Send us a textWelcome to Episode 229!  This week's a banger so you don't wanna miss it! Are you a reality television fan? What about reality competition shows?  Why or why not?  Which reality shows and reality competition shows do you watch?  Would you be on any of them?  How good would you be?  The Boys are answering these questions for you this week.The Boys' love for some reality television is well documented through the annals of Painted Trash Podcast episode history. But this week, Casey & Mark are sitting down to discuss which of these competition shows they would seen on and how they would perform.  Hilarity will for sure ensue. Maybe some discourse even. And bringing you all the faggotryKicking off this week's episode Casey is telling Mark about a wine-filled evening with music and the morning aftermath and the glories of "oil pulling".In Trash Talk, there's an update on the infamous Comedian, an fascist attempt at renaming a theatre, a drug chim, and fallout over a recent recommendation.  Yes -- you're correct.  There's sure to be some discourse in these and you won't want to miss it.Like they said, this week's a banger so you don't wanna miss it!  So pour yourself a strong port vintage (or order one up) and pull up a seat at the table with your GBFFs for a kiki and a ka-kaw.  Get ready.... it's time to paint!=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Let The Boys of Painted Trash know your thoughts on this week's topics and episode! What street festivals do you attend? Do you like street fests? What is your favorite festival??Have a topic idea or story you recommend for Trash Talk, be sure to send it in to our email or through the "contact us" on our website.Follow us on:Instagram: instragram.com/paintedtrashpodTwitter: twitter.com/paintedtrashpodFacebook: facebookcom/paintedtrashpodcastDon't forget to click Subscribe and/or Follow and leave us a review!email: paintedtrashpodcast@gmail.comweb: www.paintedtrashpodcast.com

Jamie found the worst thing we've ever sat through in the name of content and now everybody hates him. Also one of us is The Secret Birthday Boy and we learn an important origin story. Geddt more Gedds! https://geddstation.com/ Subscribe for two bonus episodes every month: https://www.patreon.com/praxiscast Watch streams: https://www.twitch.tv/praxiscast Buy shirts: https://praxiscast.teemill.com/ Follow us: https://bsky.app/profile/praxiscast.bsky.social  Cast: Special Geddst Gedds - https://bsky.app/profile/gedds.bsky.social Jamie - https://bsky.app/profile/wizardcubes.bsky.social David - https://bsky.app/profile/sanitarynaptime.bsky.social Rob - https://bsky.app/profile/trufflehog.bsky.social Alasdair - https://bsky.app/profile/ballistari.bsky.social 

George Lucas on his planned museum and loads of San Diego Comic-Con news. Plus, is Reed Richards really leading Marvel's Avengers Doomsday? And The Wizard of Oz reimagined! Hilarity ensues. 

The Fantastic Four: First Steps VS Superman at the box office! Plus news from San Diego Comic-Con! Chris Gore and Alan Ng are joined by The Angry Badger, Verbal Riot, Nerd Cookies, Derek Anderson, My Nerdy Home and Robert Meyer Burnett. Hilarity ensues?

Live from San Diego Comic-Con with convention coverage and reviews of Bambi The Reckoning, Happy Gilmore 2 and a spoiler-filled review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Hilarity ensues? 

Move Over America, There's a New Aussie Cheerleader in Town She's danced around the world, competed at the highest levels of cheerleading, and now Faith Ward has achieved her dream of becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. Tune in as we chat with the inspiring Perth dancer about her intense audition journey, culture shock moving to Texas, and what it's like being the first Kiwi and third Aussie to join the iconic squad. 2:30 - Faith describes the grueling 2-month audition process and cutthroat competition just to make the team5:15 - We dive into Faith's dance background, from starting ballet at 2 years old to working as a professional dancer on cruise ships7:45 - Faith explains the strict rules against fraternizing with football players and commitment to representing the Cowboys brand10:30 - Hilarity ensues as a squirrel interrupts the interview, giving Faith a taste of crazy Texas wildlifeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A spoiler-free review of Marvel's latest film The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Hilarity ensues!

Will James Gunn's Superman second weekend box office drop affect the future of his planned DC Universe? Chris Gore and Alan Ng are joined by The Angry Badger and Steph from My Nerdy Home to discuss. Hilarity ensues?

We are fleshing and flushing out the Tumblehome Wikipedia page to make sure the legacy lives on with truth and justice. Subscribe: Patreon Spotify iTunes YouTube Stitcher Google Play Soundcloud  

Reviews of Eddington, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Skillhouse and more. Plus an interview with ZombieCON director Kyle Valle and actress Erin Áine. Hilarity ensues!

Look out for Supergirl! Loads of Hollywood news plus an interview with The Trouble With Tessa directors Dennis Cahlo and Bethany Watson along with Death & Taxes documentary filmmaker Justin Schein. Hilarity ensues?

Will James Gunn's Superman save DC? Chris Gore and Alan Ng are joined by The Angry Badger, Verbal Riot, Derek Anderson, Nerd Cookies, Paul Chato, Steph from My Nerdy Home, Robert Meyer Burnett and Gabe Eltaeb. Hilarity ensues?

Reviews of films playing in theaters including Oh, Hi!, Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight and a spoiler review of James Gunn's Superman. Hilarity ensues!

An early reaction to James Gunn's Superman. Special guests include Gary Buechler from Nerdrotic, Derek Anderson, Dante James from Verbal Riot Show, Steph from My Nerdy Home and the Angry Badger. Hilarity ensues?

Loads of Hollywood news including the upcoming Naked Gun and the Fantastic Four. Our official review of James Gunn's Superman. Hilarity ensues.

Reviews of Jurassic World: Rebirth, Heads of State, This Is Spinal Tap, Taste the Revolution and Squid Game Season 3. Plus an interview with Zoetrope Archivist James Mockoski about the 4K rerelease of Hearts of Darkness. Hilarity ensues!

Loads of Hollywood news plus the monumental Superman marketing push is being compared to Barbie, but will it be enough? Plus an interview with The Jurassic Games: Extinction filmmaker Ryan Bellgardt. Hilarity ensues?

Evil Trump visits Alligator Alcatraz, ICE's new detention center strategically located in Florida's everglades. Hilarity ensues!

F1 dominates the box office! And is Ironheart a hit or a dud? Alan Ng is joined by The Angry Badger, Verbal Riot, Nerd Cookies, Steph from My Nerdy Home, Robert Meyer Burnett and Epic Mike. Hilarity ensues.

Reviews of F1, M3GAN 2.0, Train Wreck: Poop Cruise on Netflix and more. Plus an interview with director Nick Verdi about his mumblecore indie horror film Sweet Relief. Hilarity ensues?